water falls; people rise

not technically a tabris but i’ve always wanted to do a mahariel who has an uncanny resemblance to shianni and has a real confusing time when they make it to denerim because everyone keeps mistaking them for shianni, but then they actually MEET shianni and it’s even weirder until they have the time to sit down together and figure out that, actually, mahariel’s mother wasn’t from another clan, she was a city elf, so of course her family didn’t approve of her running off with a dalish apostate

after dad mahariel died, mom tabris-mahariel stayed just long enough to deliver twins and name one of them before wandering off into the night with the other, where the clan assumed she died but it turns out she was saved by some human freeholders, whom she served until her death of fever five years later

listen, shianni living in a human freehold with her mother until said mother died when shianni was five, and shianni fantasizing about her dad being dalish, AND mahariel’s mother’s family not approving of dadhariel are also all canonical. all i did was stitch all that together into one piece!

Twinception @ DA2 Nexus

Xiao/Chongyun, sfw so far.

hoooooooo buddy okay anon, there’s a lot, a lot you’re asking here, so let’s take this apart layer by layer:

before we even get into talking about MDZS/CQL, I do want to point out the inherent problem in asking a person whose defining trait on the internet has become, well, being a member of the Chinese diaspora in fandom the question of “is xxx racist (or not) and why?” because I am not and should not be taken as a spokesperson for an entire ethnicity, race, or subculture. Just because I say something is fine (or not-fine) doesn’t mean that it is, across the board, fine (or not-fine!). What reads as okay to me might be mega-not-okay for someone else; what sets me off might be shrug-it’s-fine-I-guess for someone else. Deconstruct the idea of the Chinese diaspora as a monolithic entity! Yeet the idea that you can get a “get-out-of-racism-free” card from one member of a large and diverse group out the window!

next, I think we have to also acknowledge the difference between attitudes towards race between mainland China (where these works are being produced) and the diaspora/Western world (where these works are now being consumed and often taken out of context). If you take a moment to think about it, growing up as part of a minority in majority-minority countries (especially the U.S.) gives you a very different perspective on race and racism in media than growing up as a majority in a majority-Han environment (i.e. mainland China). 

(and it’s also worth pointing out that race relations in East Asia are complicated!!! oh my god!!! it’s so messy!!! it’s ongoing!!!) 

Overwhelmingly, Chinese diaspora folks are going to be much more sensitive to representational accuracy and authenticity because there is a very real sense of danger when we see misrepresentation in media. We don’t get a lot of representation in Western media, so when Western media gets it wrong, it hits much closer to home.

and on top of all that, MDZS/CQL are particularly complicated by virtue of 1) their genre (xianxia, and thereby unmoored from a strict anchoring in a time or place), 2) the sheer number of different adaptations with different character designs, 3) again, Western reception of non-Western texts/Western fandom interaction with non-Western texts. I’m not going to get into examples of whitewashing or moralization with Western values in this fandom, but I’m sure if you’ve been around long enough, you’ve seen those discussions go by.

Xiao/Chongyun, sfw so far.

ok so my sister brought this about drells to my attention: “…their hyoid bone, located in their throats, is particularly developed. This allows them to inflate their throats and produce vocal sounds outside of the human range.”

yes that’s right INFLATE

and then she said “do you think they croak when they really like someone” “imagine your otp croaking sensuously”

and of course this popped in to my head and MY POINT IS i can never take thane serisously ever again.

SR1 SQUAD CONFESSIONS. All the Mass Effect on my dash on N7 day reminded me I had this sitting around partly done, so I thought I’d finish it 8U

(dialogue transcribed after the cut)

ooof had to trawl through half a dozen audiodrama episodes to figure out which one it was, I truly blitzed through the audiodrama too fast and have no concept of what happened in any order

so the line anon is referring to is “魏婴, 你这个人真的很讨厌” which, at least on the version with English subs that I have access to, has been translated as “Wei Ying, you... are really detestable”

which, whoa, I mean, 讨厌 taoyan does have a dictionary definition of ‘detestable, repugnant, loathsome,’ but it’s really not that strong? I’d say it means more ‘annoyance’ than anything; if you break the characters down, you get 讨 tao / to incur, to invite and 厌 yan / to fed up with, to be bored of, and, yes, to detest. But calling someone 讨厌 taoyan today isn’t that strong; in fact, I’m pretty sure it can be flirtatious if said in the right tone

I’d translate that line as “Wei Ying, you’re really an annoying person” if anything.

As for why Lan Wangji says it... well, not to lean on character tropes, but this feels like pretty textbook tsundere behavior; I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually think that Wei Wuxian is a detestable person, but it’s also worth considering that this scene follows hot on the heels of 1) the burning of Cloud Recesses, 2) the mortal injuring of his father, 3) the disappearance of his brother, 4) a healthy assortment of injuries including but not limited to an extremely badly-off leg which prevents him from moving freely, 5) being pretty damned stressed out about being trapped in a cave with his crush, 6) having said crush both confirm that he’s not gay and also ask if he’s into Mianmian, 7) having said crush be stupidly flippant about the life-threatening situation they’re in, and 8) break down crying in front of said crush because he’s exhausted and distressed and feels more helpless than he ever has in his entire life, okay

I also think there’s an unspoken ‘but’ in that sentence that doesn’t make it out of Lan Wangji’s mouth in that moment because he’s too busy crying; you really are an annoying person, Wei Ying, he says, but I’m thankful you’re here with me

but I’m thankful that you saved my life

but I’m thankful that your stupid optimism can distract me from the darkness and despair

but I’m thankful that you are so good, so giving, that you’d freely give me all the medicine, you stupid self-sacrificing idiot

but I’m thankful that you’re clever enough to get me to spit out congealed blood even if I’m really, really bothered by the way you did it

The 十恶不赦 shi’e bushe / Ten Unforgivable Abominations was a list of the worst crimes a person could commit, codified into law during the Sui Dynasty. The Ten Unforgivable Abominations were the only cases where the Eight Deliberations (a set of principles used to lessen the punishment for members of the imperial family/aristocracy) were not applicable.

The Ten Unforgivable Abominations were:

謀反 moufan: plotting rebellion

謀大逆 moudani: plotting damage to royal temples, imperial halls, and altars for sacrifice

謀叛 moupan: plotting defection to another state

恶逆 e’ni: plotting to murder one’s parents, grandparents, or any elder relatives 

不道 budao: murdering three or more innocents; brutalizing their bodies; using poison to kill

大不敬 dabujing: displaying great irreverence towards the emperor

不孝 buxiao: displaying lack of filial piety by treating one’s parents badly or violating mourning periods

不睦 bumu: causing discord by harming one’s in-laws

不义 buyi: unrighteous conduct, including murdering one’s superiors

内乱 neiluan: incest

(paraphrased from the Wikipedia page and the Baidu-Baike page)

You want my thoughts? Here are my thoughts:

but there is so much going on in jgy’s character arc that I have a hard time mapping specific deeds to specific charges, ahaha